Argentina, Colombia set to co-host Copa America in 2020

MIAMI — Argentina and Colombia have been chosen in principle to co-host the 2020 Copa America despite their capital cities being more than six hours apart by plane.

South American soccer’s governing body said Wednesday that it chose to stage the quadrennial tournament on its own continent despite announcing proposals from the United States and Australia.

Interest from China, Russia and Qatar also was considered by the CONMEBOL Council in Miami, a person with knowledge of the meeting told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the content of a private meeting.

While CONMEBOL has settled on the 2020 hosts, the organization will consider the offers from outside of South America for the 2024 edition, the person said.

Confirmation of Argentina and Colombia staging the tournament is subject to them complying with the CONMEBOL technical requirements after providing more details of the organization.

The tournament will bring “South American football closer to its fans,” CONMEBOL said.

Talks between CONMEBOL and American counterparts collapsed over holding a new joint tournament in the United States instead of the Copa America in 2020.

CONMEBOL said the U.S. offer would effectively have ignored the “more than 103 years of sports tradition of Copa America.”

In a statement, CONMEBOL confirmed it evaluated “expressions of interest and proposals received by the United States, Australia and Dentsu and IMG marketing agencies.”

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